The men who mine for emeralds in the Panshir mountains work at altitudes nearing 3000 meters above sea level. The crawl though tunnels of up to 100 meters into the mountain side without any safety equipment. The mountains are covered in snow for much of the year and temperatures plummet far below zero Celsius. The miners drill holes in the rock face and use home-made explosives to blow the rock apart. Rock-fall and poisonous gases claim lives and some miners go many years without finding any emeralds of significant value. Khenj, Panshir Mountains, Afghanistan on the 19th of April 2009..